The vortex as it happenedWe kept up a live blog of the polar vortex as it settled over Minnesota Sunday and Monday, collecting the best weather reports, stories, photos and videos. You can see it all here.

Lindsey Vonn says she's skipping OlympicsThe 29-year-old Vonn injured her already surgically repaired right knee on Dec. 21 during a downhill race in Val d'Isere, France. She says she is "devastated" to have to miss the competition.

MNsure gets aan audiror's check upMinnesota's legislative auditor is launching a wide-ranging inquiry into how the state handled contracts with several vendors that helped build MNsure, the state's new online health insurance marketplace.

Army takes on its own toxic leadersWhy have so many soldiers committed suicide in recent years? The Army is looking beyond post-traumatic stress and asking whether bad commanders and destructive leadership is taking its toll.

Gen. Ray Odierno LIVE at National Press ClubThe commanding general in the Iraq War is expected to addressed the rise of al Qaida-linked militia actions in Iraq cities, and the future role of the US military there and throughout the world.

Senate confirms Yellen as Federal Reserve chairYellen will succeed Ben Bernanke, whose second term as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ends on Jan. 31. She is widely expected to continue many of his policies.

$18 billion to keep out Asian carp?That's one of the price tags floated by the federal agency for shielding the Great Lakes from an invasion by Asian carp, in this case by building barriers in Chicago's waterways.
Chicago waterways that could cost more than $18 billion and take 25 years to complete.

Even surgeons don't know the price of a new hipMedicare spends about $20 billion each year on implanted medical devices. Nearly half of the total goes to orthopedic surgery. Yet doctors who were surveyed about implant prices could only accurately estimate the prices about one-fifth of the time.